Picture: CCTV traps hole in wall card thieves

Card shark: a man fits a false front to a cash machine in Liverpool St. The device copies card details

Caught in the act - this man is in the process of stealing someone's identity.

He was one of two men who made thousands of pounds after they fitted a false front to a cash machine in Liverpool Street.

They stole bank details and PINs from account holders as they took money out from the ATM.

The pair are now awaiting trial after being caught on camera by police fraud officers in a new BBC documentary.

Identity Theft, broadcast tonight, shows the host of scams used to make off with people's identities, with many victims making themselves an easy target.

It also includes:

A chemist who stole customers' bank details by swiping their cards as they paid.

Thieves who made off with £20,000 after taking credit cards out in the names of two brothers after intercepting their mail.

A gang which stole and then doctored passports from Pakistan in order to open bank accounts in England.

A group who took on the identities of dead children after stealing their names from gravestones.

An estimated £1.7 billion has been stolen from 56,000 people who have fallen prey to identity theft so far this year. The programme follows a police identity fraud squad on patrol in central London and reveals the ease of the scams.

DC Mark Bertuello, from the fraud squad, said: "I would advise people to always shield their PIN in shops, keep an eye out for any shoulder surfers and in most cases there should be no need for you to hand over your card at all."